Through a Lens
by e-dowely
Summary: Left to the harsh conditions of the wild desert, in her attempts to survive she runs across a seemingly hostile humanoid creature. Will she be able to survive the creature and make it back to civilization?
1. Chapter 1

The creature stood from his low crouch, turning in one fluid movement to follow the sound of a single rock being displaced by the clumsy steps of a young woman. She gasped stepping back as the large beast stood to his very impressive and if not intimidating stature. She watched as his muscles flexed for a brief moment that wasn't even long enough for her breathe before the large body of the great creature charged at her.

The woman attempted to flee, taking several panicked steps backwards in an effort to turn around and sprint as far away as possible but stumbled over the same clump of hard white rock that had alerted the monster to her presence in the first place. She fell to her humiliation, flailing her arms to save her body from the indignation of landing on her backside but there was absolutely nothing to catch her fall. A small grunt a pain escaped her clenched lips as her back hit the ground rather hard. The large creature was upon her seconds before she even had a chance to reopen her brown eyes to see the impending doom closing in.

Her entire body was snatched harshly off of the ground as the taloned hand of the beast wrapped around her throat ripping her up only inches away from his face. The woman whimpered out of submission as she held her eyelids closed as tightly as they would possibly go. The creature gave a low growl that seemed to emit from deep within his throat before rolling into a full hearted snarl. When she still continued to keep her eyes tightly shut the creature gave a harsh shake that rattled the woman's teeth and caused her to expel another pathetic whine. He snarled again but this time the woman opened her eyes.

Before her, she let her eyes take in the horrifying sight that dangled her high in the air. Four long mandible-like appendages that were armed with what appeared to be very sharp ebony tusks were splayed in aggression exposing the fleshy pink webbing on the inside. She couldn't help but to continue to stare at the monster's mouth and the seemingly second mouth that was nestled behind the mandibles with sharp pointed teeth that screamed carnivore. Slowly she brought her eyes up, following the olive green pebbly skin that was raked with scars to find brown deep set eyes. Despite the overall reptilian appearance of this strange creature, the woman couldn't help but notice the almost ape-like quality of his deep set eyes shadowed by a prominent spiked brow. He rattled again, a quiet clicking growl as he turned her head this way and that, examining her.

Growing seemingly bored, the creature instantly released his firm grip letting her suddenly plummet to the ground, landing once again undignified onto the rock infested ground. She groaned but pulled her uncooperative body into sitting position and scooting back as far as she could giving a whimper and staring wide eyed at the beast. He shook his head causing his long ink black plated hair like protrusions to flail out in a jingling mass. Cocking his head to the side, his mandibles pulled tightly together fitting perfectly against his second mouth. Giving another shake of his head the creature turned in a fluid motion and began an even pace in the opposite direction to the woman.

As she watched the oddly humanoid creature walk away, the woman took a shaky breath realizing that she had been holding her breath the entire time. Giving a manic laugh, she brought her knees to her chest feeling the world spinning around her. It took her a few minutes but she was eventually able to gain her composer enough to at least attempt to stand. Even that took a few tries for it seemed she could not get her legs to stop shaking to support her weight.

After being able to successfully stand on her two legs without threat of falling once again onto her back side, the woman backtracked a few steps where her hikers backpack was cast on the ground. Grasping one of the shoulder straps she heaved it up and rested the weight on her bent leg as she unzipped one of the many pockets. She rummaged, pushing past socks and empty water bottles as she fumble around before finally coming upon the object that she was searching for. With a hum of triumph, she pulled out a small silver camcorder that was held in a purple velvet bag. Closing the pocket and slinging the pack over her shoulders, she placed the corner of the bag in her mouth as she slipped her arm through the other strap.

Pulling out the camcorder, she held it lightly in her palm, looking at the object as she chewed nervously on her lip. Turning her head around, she looked towards the direction to where she could just see the humanoids silhouette. Bringing her attention back to the camera she gave a groan throwing her head back before bringing it back down. Adjusting her pack with a shrug of her shoulders the woman gave a low sigh before turning and following the path of the creature.

"This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever done." The woman said to no one but herself as she felt the dry dirt of the desert crunch under her leather boots.

From what the woman could tell by the position of the sun, she had been hiking for several hours. She wasn't an expert by any means, in fact the opposite. She was hopelessly lost in the middle of a desert in which she had never seen before in her life. Eight hours ago the woman was sitting quite comfortably in a small novel biplane over the great vast of the most beautiful landscape that she had ever cast her eyes upon. She was on her way to stay in a small cabin that was nestled deep within the wilderness of the mountains about a six hour flight away from where she was standing now. In no way did she expect the pilot to start seizing a few hours into her flight.

How she had survived her plummet to earth still baffled the beyond belief. Granted, she was more than grateful to be alive but the longer she walked the further she realized that she was most likely not going to survive this. After all, she was standing in the vast expanse of desert surrounded by intimidating canyons far in the distance and to top it all off she was trailing some horrific reptilian beast that looked very out of place in this world.

Giving a groan she pulled out a plastic water bottle from her the back strap of her pack. It was half full and she had three others in the largest pocket which she knew wouldn't last long here. Even though it was only about eighty-four degrees, which was actually surprisingly cool for being the very start of November. Taking a few slow sips she looked around examining her surroundings. There was no sign of the humanistic beast. She had lost him an hour ago and she hadn't even filmed him yet.

Stretching her sore body, which continued to remind her that she had just walked away from a plane crash practically unscathed, she placed the water bottle back and took another look around. To the left of her a large rock structure jutted out suddenly blemishing the slightly uneven ground. She looked at the promising shade and immediately willed her feet to start moving towards it.

To her pleasant surprise, the rock structure in its amazingly enormous size was in fact not that far of a hike away. When she reached it, as exhausted as she was she immediately dropped her pack onto the red sand and soon followed foot letting her body flop down beside the red stone. After resting her tired and hot body on the sand that was certainly cooler than when she was standing out in the sun the woman was able to regain some of her energy. She sat up dragging her very sore body off the ground and resting her back against the great stone structure.

Stretching, she reached for her backpack but was stopped by a familiar low clicking growl. She froze dead in her tracks, the color draining from her face as she looked up to see a very familiar, very ferocious humanoid beast sitting only about five or six feet away leaning on the same rock structure. She turned her head away slightly refusing to give the creature any attention. The woman continued to reach for her pack rummaging through it to find her less than half full bottle of water. Taking a few sips she watched the creature out of the very corner of her eyes as it continued to examine her. Giving a low snarl the humanoid, seemingly losing interest like the previous time turned his attention to some sort of technology on his wrist. The woman turned her head by the slightest to get a closer look at the strange beast beside her but the creature picking up on her movement turned his head and gave a threatening snarl. She dropped her gaze instantly and continued messing with her pack.

The woman soon learned that if she was quiet and didn't make direct eye contact with the strange beast it didn't pay any heed to her existence at all. It seemed that both of them were just too physically exhausted to mind each other's company. She risked another glance at the strange humanistic beast to the left of her but was yet again rewarded with him turning his large head and stretching out his mandibles and letting out a long dramatic hiss. That was her last attempted at observing the new fascinating creature.

The sun was fading and she knew that she was losing light and fast. Giving a very pathetic sigh she rolled her head back picking up the camcorder in her hands and flipping the small side screen and turning the camera around so it was facing her. Turning on the power, the women was greeted with the image of her face, her caramel skin coated in dust and her black bob cut. She attempted in vain to fix her hair and brush the dirt off of her skin. Pulling her lips into a slight smile she pushed the record button. She knew she had been putting this off since she had woken up crumble on the ground several feet away from the completely destroyed plane.

"To whomever finds this," she started watching her hazel eyes as they began to water. "My name is Alisha Sommers. I am twenty-two years of age. My address is 8241 Oakweed Avenue; please make sure this makes it to my fiancé." Alisha stopped for a minute licking her dry lips and inhaling air roughly. She brought her attention back to the camera and finally began her farewell message to her soon to be husband.

"Hey Mark. Some idea right? Yeah, I know you said going on a plane in the middle of bum fuck nowhere was exactly the best idea two weeks away from a wedding but you know me, stubborn as an ox." She let out a small laugh. "It's really quite beautiful out here, despite the circumstances. I wish you could see what I'm seeing. The sky's are filled with just orange, almost as if the sky itself is on fire." Turning the small camera around and pointing it to the sky for a few seconds before bringing it back to her face.

"besides, I survived a plane crash. How awesome is that? I actually walked away from the wreckage like nothing but now thinking about it, I think I should have stayed with the plane. Now it's going to be harder to find me, huh? Well, I really wasn't thinking much besides about getting the hell away from there. I managed to grab a few supplies though. I say about two days worth of water and maybe three days worth of granola bars. After that, I think I'm screwed." Just then she was interrupted by a low growl and she turned her head to see the humanoid watching her perplexed with his head cocked to the side. She gulped and turned back to the camera.

"The sad part is that I don't even think it's going to be the elements that end me." Alisha continued. "or starvation. You wouldn't believe what I found or rather ran into." She turned the camera slowly, pointing it at the creature being careful not to make eye contact, only watching him through the screen. Returning the camera so it was back pointed at her she began to speak again.

"Him, at least I think it's a he. Looks like a he. That's beside the point. I really hope he is a concussion induced hallucination but I don't think so." Pausing she looked at the sky that was almost completely dark. "I'm losing light now. In case I don't see you again I just want to tell you that I love you. Mark, I love you." She closed the screen and turned the small camera off, placing it on the ground. Bringing her hand to her face she wiped a tear that was slowly escaping her eye. She just told the man she loved that she was dead.

**Authors Note: Just a little idea I had and started to write. I kind of wanted to write a story based on how I think a predator aka Yautja would reacted to a human when they were both lost in the desert. Finally an excuse to write a familiar territory. I truly love the desert, wouldn't trade anything for it. Please, review and tell me if I should continue this. **

**Yours truly**

**-Dowely**


	2. Chapter 2

It was the sun shining brightly in her eyes that awoke her. She grumbled, feeling every bit of rock and debris that dug into her flesh as she moved. Fluttering her eyes open, she let out a pathetic groan realizing that she wasn't going to awake in the comfort of her down comforter next to the warmth of her soon to be husband. She stood, her muscles complaining with even the slightest movement. From behind her she could hear a quiet rumble before an aggressive growl. Alisha turned her head as she glanced her eyes upon the humanoid who was strapping some sort of intricate metal armor on to his chest. With her eye contact, the great beast gave a slightly louder snarl and Alisha turned away from his view, raising her arms out in defense.

Stomping away from the area with purposefully loud footfalls, she grumble stepping away behind the rock structure making sure to flip the creature the bird when she was certain he wouldn't be able to see. Relieving the pressure on her bladder, she turned pulling up her pants and walking back to where her pack was. Finding that the humanoid had already started off without her she glared at his retreating figure. Snarling Alisha took off in a sprint swooping up her pack by the shoulder strap as she ran alongside the large rock structure.

"Hey!" She howled out attempting to slow down the creature. Her plan worked and the creature spun around hair arching as he moved. Her body halted all movement out of fear as the realization of her mistake dawned on her. Moving in aggression the creature snarled, tensing his hands displaying his talons fully. Alisha didn't even have enough time to mouth the words _oh shit, _before the girth of the beast came charging at her.

Her body hit the rough sandstone as she flinched her head away hearing a foreboding _shink _as she felt the air displaced to the right of her head. Opening her eyes slowly she found her small frame pinned between the enormous body of the humanoid and the rock. Turning her head to the right she saw two twin wrist blades embedded deep within the stone where her head had been only moments ago. The creature roared, flaring his mandibles exposing the fleshy membrane and his pointed fangs. She whimpered at the close proximity and the retched stench that seeped out from his open maw. If she wasn't so scared shitless, Alisha would have heaved.

Dropping down onto her hands and knees she desperately crawled out from the only opening which was between his spread legs. She just barely fit, feeling his rough skin brush against the sides of her shirt. The humanoid attempted to turn his body to follow the frightened female but was stopped as his arm refused to follow. The two blades were embedded deep within in the sandstone and refused to budge.

Alisha stood a good ten foot distance watching as the creature punched at the large rock mound out of pure frustration only succeeding in hurting his large scaled hand. The bellow that escaped his mouth was loud enough to force Alisha to slap her hands over her ears to protect her hearing despite the distance.

Seemingly coming to his senses the humanoid placed his large clawed foot on the rock and began to push with all of his might in attempts to free him from his sudden prison. With a slight puff of loosening sand, the rock released its hold on the blades and sent the beast flying backwards landing rather undignified onto his back with a disgruntled snort. He sat up, shock evident on his alien features and Alisha had to slap both of her hands firmly over her mouth to stiffen the laughter that was slowly escaping her lips. Despite her best efforts the humanistic beast still managed to hear her hysterics at his expense. He stood, his pride clearly damaged before turning in one swift, fluid motion before stomping off completely forgetting his earlier attempts at ending her life.

Xxxxx

"Hey Mark." Alisha pronounced as she hit the record button on the small camcorder while walking a good ten feet behind the rather annoyed creature. "I survived the night as unbelievable as that must sound. It's day two now and if I'm guessing correctly, it should be some time in the afternoon but who knows. I'm just going by the position of the sun. Isn't that how you start these stupid video journals, with date and time?" She shrugged. "Who knows?" The humanoid turned his head to give the female an irritated glare. She was speaking to that stupid recording device and it was rather bothersome just to have her following behind him let alone listening to her speak her infuriating language.

"I'm doing well, a bit tired though but I've been hiking for a few good hours. I'm doing something incredibly stupid though!" Alisha chirped with a rather joyous tone. "Well, as usual. Remember that really freighting, hostile creature that was determined to do me harm but was too physically exhausted at that moment? Yeah, I'm following him. He's still hell bent on having my head smashed into the nearest rock." Alisha turned the camera and pointed it at the beast's figure.

He could hear her continues footfalls as she was ever slowly getting closer to the humanoid without even realizing. Giving a low warning growl he spun on his heels. Alisha jumped back out of instinct and stepped back a few steps waiting for him to continue on. He huffed satisfied as he turned around and continued on his original path, listening as the fragile female voice quieted noticeably as she talked to the small device. It seemed she could be trained.

"I think I got too close." She whispered with the camera once again pointed at her face. "At least he gives me warning now. I think I'm going to have to put the camera down, less I agitate him anymore. Hopefully he won't kill me before I have a chance to continue. See ya Mark." She closed the small screen and turned the camera off, quietly following after the strange creature.

Xxxx

With the dimming light, the air was filled with an unexpected chill that made the woman shiver in her sweat soaked clothing. The heat of the day was such oppressive heat that she had practically stripped to her tank top but now she was desperately pulling on any clothing that she could. She was thankful that she still had her small sweater that she had hung around her waist instead of discarding like she had planned to.

Alisha wasn't the only one affected by the sudden drop in temperature. The humanoid began to slow his pace forcing Alisha to walk slower to avoid his potential rage. Seemingly frustrated the creature raked his talons against the odd wire netting that covered his body under the armor, tearing it off of his body before slamming it into the ground with a furious snarl. Inflating his chest with oxygen he released his breath in a low defeated sigh, bringing his head to gaze up to the darkening sky with a look of longing. He slumped to the harsh ground of the desert with an audible thunk as he sat cross-legged. Slumping his head forward, he let his head rest on his right hand, concealing his eyes.

"You look miserable." Alisha stated obviously. He lifted his head only regarding her with one eye before giving a loud huff and rolling his eyes, letting his head slump onto his hand again. Alisha watched as his large body was quickly overcome by shivers. Letting her pack fall to the ground disturbing the dirt, she rummaged, pulling out a small flash light and taking off into the dark.

When she returned the reptilian humanoid was still sitting looking just plain cold and dejected. His muscles rippled in convulsion because of the cold. It was a pretty sad sight given the circumstances.

As she approached the creature, he again lifted his head by the slightest to regard her with the same quiet animosity that he has always harbored towards her but seemingly to depressed to do anything about it. Walking close to him but not close enough for her to be within in his striking range, Alisha dropped a large collection of dry brush that she had collected. The one thing about the desert was that there certainly wasn't a shortage of dry shrubs, especially at this time of the year. She trotted off again but returned shortly with a good collection of multiple rugged stones.

Using one of the multiple stones, she hit at the dirt attempting to dig a slight pit but the water deprived soil was like trying to dig through stone. With much effort, Alisha was able to make a slight dent in the ground and soon began arranging the array of dead vegetation breaking them apart and placing them within the make shift pit. She lined the pit with the left over rocks. The humanoid made no attempts to help but sat observing her as if she was insane.

Dragging her pack next to her, she rummaged pulling out a large novel and a small circular tin container that had the words _insta light _on the very top. She put these items to the side and pushed her pack out of the way. Opening the tin lid, she took a minimal amount of the black powder and put it in the center of her dead vegetation. She knew the consequences of using too much of that powder with the loss of her eyebrow and Alisha certainly didn't want a recurrence of that said event. Closing and returning the tin to her pack, she grasped the novel and regrettably began to tear the pages from the book and ripping them to shreds before placing them in the center of the pile. She only used the first chapter so at least she might be able to finish the book if she ever got the opportunity.

"Sod rubbing two sticks together." She said to no one in particular while simultaneously pulling out a lighter from her pocket. Alisha smiled as she held the lit metal lighter with her initials carved into the metal. The fire licked the small twig, charring them black before catching on to the paper; the paper curling and dancing away from the flames as the small lighter traveled on the paper.

"With a great exclamation, the great god said 'Let there be light!" Alisha pronounced as the fire traveled down the paper igniting the black powder with a large spark sending flames to shoot up into the air, spooking the humanoid and causing him to leap back. He glared at her with obvious hatred but Alisha met his glare with a smirk plastered firmly on her lips. "and there was light." She finished.

xxxx

Alisha curled on her side beside the warmth of the fire reveling on how the flames seem to chase away the chills. The humanoid sat as close as possible to the fire without getting burned with his great taloned hands stretched out just above the flames. Every so often he would release a strange contented rumble that sounded more like a purr than a growl. It seemed he was happy for now but how long would that last?

With her head firmly supported by her back pack, her eyelids began to droop and she soon drifted off to an eased slumber that was strangely peaceful with the hunter soon following foot. They both slept well until the fire went out in the early morning hours when it was still dark out.

Alisha was woken up rather rudely as she was grabbed roughly by the scruff of her neck and dangled mercilessly in front of the menacing visage of the hunter's fanged mouth, roaring at her with mandibles fully flared. Noticing that she was fully awake, he gestured to the fire pit which had a new collection of dead plants and parts of her novel that she had accidently left out. _So much for ever finishing it, _she thought. The humanoid dropped her and she, defeated, went to the fire pit placing more of the _insta light_ in the center before lighting it.

Alisha shot death glares at the hunter as he strutted back to his spot before flopping onto the ground, resting his large head on his arms and seemingly falling back to sleep.

"Yeah," Alisha grumbled. "Sweet dreams you nightmare." She snarled, finally finding a suitable name for the humanoid, Nightmare.

**So here is chapter two. What do you guys think about it?**


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